Elections and Referendums

• FPTP - First past the post

  • Majoritarian system
  • Used in by-elections, General elections and referendums
  • Recently started being used for the West Midlands metro mayor
  • One seat per constituency
• Advantages of FPTP

  • Close ties between the MP and the constituency
  • Most of the time, it produces a clear majority
  • Mostly produces stable governments with few coalitions
• Disadvantages of FPTP

  • Safe seats exist so voters feel like their vote is wasted - the red wall
  • Proportion of MPs to votes is disproportionate
  • Small parties are unrepresented
• SV - Supplementary vote

  • Majoritarian system
  • First and a second choice
  • Previously used in metro mayors, 2021 London mayor
• SV Advantages

  • Stops the candidates who are unpopular within the majority from being elected
  • Smaller parties do get represented a bit more as there's two choices
• SV Disadvantages

  • Could be seen as voting twice which means partisan dealignment could be a factor
  • Doesn't always form a majority, if not then it's a lengthy process to decide who wins
• STV - Single Transferable Vote

  • Proportional system
  • Used for deputy speakers in the HOC and the Northern Ireland assembly elections
  • Select more representatives than SV, voters rank the representatives in an order
• STV Advantages

  • Tends to produce a better proportional representation than other systems like SV or FPTP
  • Tactical voting isn't needed - Tactical voting is for voting out a party that you dislike by voting the second most likely winner
• STV Disadvantages

  • Complex system and complicated for voters
  • Representatives don't have a similar connection than FPTP
  • Could also be seen as voting multiple times
• AMS - Additional member system

  • Hybrid system
  • Used in the Scottish parliament and the London assembly
  • Vote for the candidate in FPTP
  • Vote for the party separately by counting the party list votes in each region
• AMS Advantages

  • Much more proportional than majoritarian systems - FPTP
  • Smaller parties can get more representation
  • Allows for a diverse vote
• AMS Disadvantages

  • Not perfectly proportional due to it being a hybrid system
  • Less chance of majority governments with the various systems in place
  • Complex voting, needs voters to understand systems
• AV - Alternative Vote

  • Majoritarian system
  • Used to select the labour party leader and by-elections for hereditary peers
  • Rank candidates in order until one has 50%
• AV Advantages

  • Winner has a majority
  • Links between the electors and the elected
  • Stops extremist parties from gaining support
• AV Disadvantages

  • Still produces disproportional results based on their first choice
  • Voters vote twice
  • Long process if no one has a majority after eliminating candidates
• Proportional Representation

  • Fairer voting system
  • Number of votes = Number of MPs that party has sitting
  • Smaller parties have a better chance
• PR Advantages

  • Vote share is equal to seat share
  • No wasted votes, every vote counts towards a seat won
  • Smaller parties benefit from the votes they get, allowing for a diverse parliament with more views
• PR Disadvantages

  • Parties control whose a representative so they can't be held for account and removed
  • Extremist parties can gain representatives in parliament
  • No link between the representative and the constituency they're given
• Gender

  • Women are more likely to support public services like the NHS and education
  • Both are likely to vote equally
  • Younger women are more likely to vote labour
• Ethnicity

  • BAME - black, Asian and minority ethnic groups are more likely to vote labour against conservative
  • 64% of BAME vote labour
• Geography

  • Rural and southern constituencies are likely to vote conservative
  • Urban areas like London and more likely to be held by labour
  • 2019 general election, conservatives broke the red wall, due to them voting leave in Brexit and Boris promising to get it done
  • Regional parties are important in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales
• Age

  • Younger voters are more likely to vote labour, the age being 39 and below
  • The younger voters also voted remain in Brexit verses the older voters leaving
  • Turnout also increases with age
• Class

  • Traditionally, the working man should vote for labour and the middle class would vote for conservatives
  • However, class dealignment has emerged since the 1980s
  • Degree education voters were more likely to vote labour verses other voters voting conservative